Toy



Jan. 2, 1934. D. L. sHlKALY l 1,942,006

TOY

Filed March 6, 1933 1 INVENTOR.

Kga/@J7 tion of a whirligig constructed according to the principles ofthe invention.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is an elevational outside view of the upper portion of thewhirligig with the handle and other extremities of the device shownbroken off. The illustrated portion is shown in a position where thespindle is disengaged from the capsule containing the rewinding spring.

Figure 4 is a detail view of the lip serving as guide for the windingcord.

Figure 5 is a bottom view of the spherical weight member indicating thefastening of the spindle to it.

Figure 6 is a top view of the Whirligig showing specically in detail theupper disk forming part of the optical illusion attachment.

Figure 7 is a top view of the underlying disk, separated from the restof the device.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout thedifferent views.

Referring more in detail to the construction, numeral 10 designates thespindle of the toy. At the bottom end, a spherical weight 11 ispermanently attached in the following manner. A vertical central hole,fitting around the spindle, is drilled through it, and the zone 12surrounding the extreme lower end of the diametrically penetratingspindle is flattened, to provide supporting surface on which the toy canbe stood up in an upright position when not being used (see Figs. 4 and5). Furthermore, at right angles to the vertical bore, the lower surfaceof the spherical body is recessed by a groove 13, and the end of thespindle is secured within this groove by a cotter pin 14 whoseprotruding ends are imbedded thereon.

By this arrangement a permanent connection between the spindle and theweight is provided which would be rather insecure if for example thespindle were threaded into the weight. Furthermore it allows an easymounting and dismantling of the device, besides the facility of makingthe parts of different materials, for instance making the spindle ofwood or hollow tin tubing and the weight of soft lead.

The bearing supporting the upper part of the spindle comprises the plate15, formed as a circular disk 15a., perforated in the center to pass thespindle 10 through it.

Toward one side this disk is elongated to form a handle 15b, on theopposite side it protrudes in the form of a lip 15e, bent downwardly atright angles and provided with an aperture 15d to guide the cord 16.This is shown more clearly in Fig. 4.

The cord 16 is securely attached through a hole 17 or in any othersuitable manner to the spindle at some distance beneath the supportingplate 15, wound around the spindle in a counterclockwise manner-that is:in a direction opposite to that in which the spring 21-tobe describedlater-is wound, and at the outer-free end. is attached to a small handle18, or a ring or ball or other convenient device for manipulating thecord.

The circular portion 15a supports a cylindrical capsule 19 which isclamped facing downwardly upon the plate 15. The rim of the capsule hastwo clips 19a and 19o, spaced diametrically apart, protruding throughtwo corresponding slots 15m and 1511, in the supporting plate and bentoutwardly to insure a tight grip upon the plate 15. The bottom of thecapsule, which in this arrangement therefore is uppermost, has anaperture 19e through which the spindle 10 passes. Within the spacebetween this bottom and the supporting plate the spindle is surroundedby a loose sleeve 20 which is adapted to freely turn within the capsuleand around the spindle. The remaining space within said capsule isoccupied by a spiral watch spring 2l, riveted with one end 21a to theinside of the capsule wall and with the other end 2lb to the sleeve,either by welding or by means of a couple of tap screws. The thicknessof the spring in the drawing is for the sake of clearness shown greatlyexaggerated, in reality an ordinarily thin bladed Winder spring of thesort employed in small alarm clocks is sufficiently strong. It isimmaterial in which direction the spring is wound up, the cord howevershould always be wound up in a direction opposite to that of the spring,as previously stated.

The rotatable spindle l0 is detachably connected tothe sleeve 20 aroundwhich the watch spring is coiled in a manner presently to be described.The neck of the spindle, provided that the latter is solid, is groovedby a longitudinal slot 22 not penetrating all the Way through the stem,as shown in Figures 1 and 2. If the spindle should be made of hollowtubing, the side wall is simply slotted. The recess thus formed is usedto seat a resilient catch 24 formed of a single wire coiled around apivotal pin 23, in the upper part of the slot. This pin traversestheslot 22 at! right angles and is riveted over on the outside o-f thespindle. The resilient wire forming the catch is bent and rebent in apeculiar way plainly indicated in the sectional view of Fig. 1. Itsubstantially forms a resilient staple resting with one straight legvagainst the rear wall of the slot. The front leg is doubled up in themiddle part, forming a projecting stud 24a, and the lower end 24h islooped over so as to form a key or nose, adapted to engage a keyway 20a,out into the hub of the sleeve 20, running parallel with the spindle.This leg of the catch spring is obviously under tension which forces thenose 24 out of the groove, and if the spindle is lifted vertically outof the capsule the spring catch assumes a position as shown in Fig. 3.In this position the sleeve 20 and therewith the watch Yspring 21 isdisengaged from the spindle which may then be rotated freely, supportedby the catch 24h above the capsule 19 and the cord can then be wound up,if necessary, to any required length. Thereafter the projecting stud 24ais deflected by a finger, the catch 24h is depressed into the slot 22,and the spindle can be lowered intoy engaging position with the sleeve20-and the watch spring 21. When the spindle is turned one way or theother, the nose of 24D will spring forward into operative engagementwith the keyway 20a.

It is also obvious that by a downward deflection of the stud 24a thecatch 24h may be disengaged again and the spindle lifted out ofengagement.

The mechanical operation of the device is therefore quite simple.

When the cord is pulled, it unwinds and while doing this, it winds upthe watch spring. The more of the cord is pulled out the more of thespring is wound up. When the cord is relaxed, the spring unwinds itselfand automatically winds up just as much of the cord as originally wasunwound. Thus the rewinding of the cord is no longer depending upon thevis viva or the accumulated momentum of the spindle and it does notmatter, whether the pulling of the cord is done slowly or' fast. Thereaction is always positive and the string or cord is always kept taut.

It remains to describe the attachment, forming the optical illusiondevice:

This consists of two disks or circular plates, superimposed upon eachother, ofapproximately the same diameter. The lower one 30 ispermanently affixed to a circular shoulder or flange 26 which forms partof the upper end of the spindle 10. This should be of rather substantialthickness, but may be made of printed cardboard, wood or a painted andvarnished tin plate.

The superimposed plate 27 which should be rather thin can also be madeof any suitable material, preferably, for reasons stated afterwards, oftransparent thin celluloid, cellophane or similar substances.

The lower plate which is represented in Fig. '7 is subdivided intoradial sectors representing a multiple of groups or units. Each unitconsists of a series of differently colored smaller sectors, thedifferent colors repeated in exactly the same rotation. Thus thecombination shown for example in Fig. '7 consists of three groups, eachgroup comprisng 4 sectors R, B, Y, P, showing the colors red, blue,yellow and purple by conventional shading, and repeated twice in theorder named. The upper plate which, let us assume, is made oftransparent celluloid, has painted on its underside a spiral S, eitherblank or some neutral dark color, the remainder being covered by a whiteback ground except for three segments T. T. T. radially arranged, theircenter lines forming angles of 120 with each other and left transparent.When the upper plate is superimposed upon the lower plate, it is obviousthat the three transparent segments, except where they are traversed bythe opaque spiral, will always appear colored in the same way, be itthat they may just fit over three equally colored segments or that theymay take in two portions of adjacent segments. Thus for example they mayall three appear blue or red or again each segment may show part yellowand part blue, etc.

Instead of being made of transparent material, covered partly on theunder side with an opaque design, as indicated, the upper plate or diskcan be made of opaque material, for instance of thin metal, with thespots described as transparent, stamped out.

The upper disk, in either case however, has a loose central fit aroundthe upper shaft and of the spindle. The latter has an offset 32, just atrifle above the upper surface of the top disk 31 when the latter ismounted, and the rest 33 of the spindle is threaded to receive the nut34. Between the latter and the upper disk one or more thin smooth paperwashers 35 are inserted and the nut is screwed down to such a degreethat the upper disk when the lower one is in rotation, is taken alongwith it by friction, yet has still so much free play that when the lowerdisk is suddenly stopped in its motion, it is carried on for a shortinterval of time by its own momentum, thus changing its positionrelative to the underlying colored disk. The optical illusion resultingfrom this arrangement is as follows:

When the dark colored spiral is quickly rotated it gives the impressionof a continuous series of concentric rings expanding centrifugally orcontracting centripetally according to the direction in which the diskis rotated. The colors appearing through the transparent spots or thecutouts-as the case may be-seem to be equally distributed as a coloredhue over the whole white area between the runs of the spiral. Butwhenever the direction of rotation is alternated by a sudden stop,another set of colors or blending of two colors will appear, the upperdisk advancing for a varying and accidental angle over the lower one,the accumulated torque being dispersed by friction. Thus not only willthe original colors shown on the lower disk appear, forming atenderly-hued background for the contracting or expanding rings but whenfor instance a purple and yellow sector simultaneously show under thetransparent spots, an orange color will appear, if a yellow and bluesector blend, the resulting color will be green and so forth, varying atevery alternation for another hue and shade.

The illusional device shown by Figures 6 and 7 however is to be taken asmerely illustrative, for it is obvious and evident that a good manyother modifications and variations of design could be substituted andgive very interesting effects. It is also possible to employ only onedisk, for instance the upper one, showing a spiral or the lower one andstill eifect an entertaining result. The use of two disks therefore isnot to be construed as a restrictive means, and the scope of theinvention should be judged according to the claims rather than the exactdetails shown.

I claim as my invention:

1. A whirling toy adapted to be alternately r0- tated in oppositedirections comprising a balanced spindle, a stationary member serving asa handle and as a bearing for said spindle, manual means to impartrotary motion to the spindle in one direction, said manual meanscomprising a tension member, adapted to be wound upon said spindle inone direction, a spiral spring, fixedly attached with one end to thestationary member and wound around said spindle in an opposite directionand connecting means to engage said spiral spring operatively with ordisengage it from said spindle for the purpose of winding up saidtension member on said spindle, independently from said spring, and tooperatively engage said spring to the spindle. Y

2. A whirling toy, adapted to be alternately rotated in oppositedirections comprising a balanced spindle, a stationary member serving asa handle and as a bearing for said spindle, manual means to impartrotary motion to the spindle in one direction, an automaticallyoperative helical spring, concentrically attached to the spindle,adapted to be put under tension by the manually imparted rotary motionof the spindle and to impart rotary motion to the spindle in theopposite direction when released, a rotatable collar, seated on thespindle and fixedly attached to said spring means and disengageablelocking means, fixedly attached to the spindle and adapted to form anoperative connection with said collar.

DAVID L. SHIKALY.

